


Four Day's Penitence

by SmonksTheMuse



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (lol get it), Dipper is a good brother who doesn't want his sister to feel bad, Gen, Guilt, Post-Weirdmageddon, and will help her in any way she needs him to, even if it's a tad strange, request fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-09-21 06:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9535661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmonksTheMuse/pseuds/SmonksTheMuse
Summary: Request from waldorkler on tumblr: “A story where Mabel feels bad and pretty guilty about Dipper having to survive for three days all alone during Weirdmageddon, so she makes it up to him by doing everything he wants for four days.”





	1. Day Zero

“Mabel, you don’t have to do this –”

“I  _want_  to do it, Dipper. I have to do  _something_  to make up for all of this!”

Dipper sighed. He wished he knew how to convince Mabel that Weirdmageddon wasn’t her fault, but no matter what he said, she insisted that it was. She said she wanted to…  _atone_ for her mistakes – those weren’t her exact words, but that’s what she meant – by doing whatever Dipper asked for four days; for each day he’d had to survive alone, she’d explained, plus one extra day for good measure.

“I’m not mad at you, Mabel! I don’t need you to be my  _servant_  –”

“Please, Dipper! I want to do this, I’ve  _got_  to!” Mabel looked near-frantic, eyes wide and desperate. “Please,” she whispered.

Dipper looked at his sister sadly. No one blamed her for Weirdmageddon, and she shouldn’t blame herself; she had been tricked by Bill,  _Bill_  was the one to blame, so he didn’t understand why she felt like she needed to do this. But she was so upset, and if this would make her feel better…

“Okay, Mabel. Just for four days. Then will you stop beating yourself up about this?”

Mabel beamed and threw her arms around him. “Yes! Everything will be better after this, I promise.” She stepped back and clapped her hands together. “Alright! What should I do first?” she chirped.

Dipper chuckled awkwardly. “Um, maybe we should wait until tomorrow? It’s already afternoon…”

Mabel rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry. “Fine, whatever. But first thing tomorrow!”

“Sure, first thing tomorrow…” he watched Mabel bound away, already seeming happier. He sighed again; it was a strange arrangement to be sure, but if Mabel needed something strange to overcome something Weird, he’d do whatever out-there thing he had to.

* * *

“COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOOO!”

“WAUGH – oof!” Dipper hit the floor with a thump, tangled in his sheets and thoroughly confused. He flailed about, trying to unwrap himself and get his bearings. He was rolled onto his back by a pair of hands, which he soon realized belonged to Mabel, who stood grinning above him in the dim light.

“Morning, Dipper!”

“Mabel, what are you  _doing?_ ” He squirmed out of the covers twisted around him and stood, squinting at her. “And what time is it? It’s still dark.”

“It’s almost sunrise!” Mabel said brightly. “That’s why I made rooster sounds,  _duh_. COCK-A-DOODLE – mmph!”

Dipper clapped his hand over her mouth. “Mabel, shush! You’re gonna wake up Stan and Ford! Or a  _real_  rooster!”

Mabel mumbled something, then licked his hand.

“Eww, Mabel!” Dipper snatched his hand back and wiped it on his pajama shirt.

Mabel made a face. “Ew yourself, your hands taste gross. Blech!”

Dipper grumbled and rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes, resigning himself to an early morning. “Mabel, why did you wake me up?”

She bounced up and down on her toes excitedly. “It’s tomorrow!”

“What?”

“It’s tomorrow! You said yesterday we should wait until tomorrow to start the four days, and now tomorrow is today!”

“Barely,” he muttered. “Did we really need to start before sunrise?”

“Tomorrow’s tomorrow, and tomorrow’s today!” she sang, twirling happily. She spun a few times and came to a somewhat dizzy stop, smiling widely. “So what should I do first?”

“Um…” Dipper glanced out the window at the still-dark sky. Making breakfast could wake their grunkles, better to wait… and they were both too awake to fall back asleep… He looked back at Mabel, still eagerly awaiting his answer. “Uh, you wanna watch TV?”

“Do  _you_  want me to watch TV with you?” Mabel’s eyes were wide and expectant, clearly seeking something specific. Dipper wasn’t sure what, so he rephrased.

“Yes, Mabel, I want you to watch TV with me.”

That seemed to work, because she threw a fist in the air, and with a cry of “Onward!” attempted to carry him down the stairs.


	2. Day One, Part One

Two minutes and one near-disaster later, they sat on the couch with twin bowls of ice cream (“Do you _want_ me to get us some ice cream?” “Yes, Mabel, I want you to get us some ice cream.”). Not much was on at such an early hour, but after a bit of channel-surfing they found some reruns of old Ducktective episodes, which they watched in companionable silence, broken occasionally by Dipper pointing out clues and foreshadowing.

Soon the sun crept above the horizon, and dazzling beams of light began streaming into the shack, painting everything a brilliant gold and bathing the room in natural warmth.

It hit Dipper right in the eyes and nearly blinded him.

After a while of cupping his hand over his face and squinting to see the TV, Mabel took notice.

“Is light hurting your eyes?” she asked in an oddly concerned voice. “You should have said something!”

“It’s fine, Mabel, it’s just a little annoying –”

“You should ask me to block it for you.”

He looked over and saw that she was staring at him intently, leaning in slightly, a strange look on her face. “If you want,” she added quickly, as if afraid he’d take offense and refuse.

He sighed and gave her a half-smile. “Okay, Mabel. Can you please block the light for me?”

“You bet your hat I can!”

* * *

 

Dipper yawned and stretched languidly. It was just after breakfast, and he was once again sitting on the couch, though the TV was off this time. His unusually early morning was beginning to take its toll; he was close to nodding off right there in the living room.

His eyelids were heavy, and they began to close down slowly over his eyes, despite his attempts to stay awake. He was just so sleepy…

He felt himself being shaken gently. “Dipper. Dipper, wake up,” a voice whispered.

He cracked open his eyes and saw Mabel standing above him, a dustpan in one hand and a broom in the other. “You told me to wake you up if you fell asleep,” she reminded him.

He scrubbed his face and sat up, yawning again. “Mmph…yeah, I know. Thanks, Mabel.”

Mabel smiled widely. “Just doin’ what you asked!” she replied cheerfully, then turned and bounced back into the store to finish sweeping.

Grunkle Stan, upon finishing his breakfast, had given them chores to do; Mabel was supposed to restock the store shelves, Dipper was supposed to sweep the floor and wipe down all other surfaces, and they were both supposed to be done before Stan came back from the store. Mabel had practically insisted that Dipper ‘ask’ her to do the sweeping for him, and despite his protests, her pleading eyes and hopeful smile wore him down, and he gave in. For lack of anything else to do, he had lounged on the couch, a little bored but mostly tired. After a few minutes fighting an uphill battle with mid-morning drowsiness, he’d asked Mabel to check in on him every so often in case he fell asleep; she had eagerly agreed, looking almost overjoyed that he had given her something to do without any prompting from her.

As the three of them had eaten, Dipper and Mabel choosing not to mention their pre-breakfast ice cream, he had wondered if he should tell Grunkle Stan about his and Mabel’s little arrangement. He would probably be more than a little weirded out to see Mabel suddenly taking orders from him without question – with cheer, even. Some context would surely be necessary at _some_ point, right?

Unless… Mabel wanted to keep this a secret?

He stared at the ceiling, brow furrowed. _Did_ Mabel want this to stay between them? Dipper certainly wouldn’t mind; if they told Stan and Ford, it would definitely be a bit of an awkward conversation. It was an awkward situation, after all.

At least, it was in Dipper’s mind. Mabel seemed to find nothing strange about it whatsoever. But then, she _was_ the one who came up with it, and she _was_ Mabel.

His thoughts were interrupted by a crow of, “Done!” from the shop. Mabel skipped back into the living room and stood in front of him, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth slightly.

“Floor swept, surfaces wiped, and store stocked; all in record time!” she said proudly.

“Really?” He blinked, surprised. “Mabel, that was like, no time at all.”

She beamed. “I know! I worked super fast so we could have more time to do other stuff!” She spun around and launched herself backwards onto the couch beside him. “So, what’s next?”

“Um…” Dipper hadn’t really thought about what task he would next; he had thought the chores would take more time. Now Mabel was watching him expectantly, and he had to think fast.

“Why don’t we… um…” he looked around the room desperately, searching for some sort of inspiration; his eyes landed on a discarded magazine with a mountain range on the cover. “Go for a hike?”

Mabel cocked her head, looking confused and a little disappointed. “A hike? That’s not really having me do anything for you.”

“Sure it is!” he said quickly. “I’m asking you to be my hiking buddy. You know, make sure I don’t get lost out in the wilderness, or kidnapped by gnomes.”

She snickered and punched his shoulder at that. “Alright, Dip-Dop,” she said, hopping up from the couch and puffing her chest out dramatically. “To the woods! Dipper and his faithful hiking buddy Mabel, away!”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic and others can be found on my tumblr: vintage-smokestack.tumblr.com


End file.
